Did you know croissants didn’t originally come from France? Apparently they were invented following an attempted invasion and some helpful bakers! Will tell you the exciting tale later. But today’s recipe is for croissants that have been ‘speltified’. You can make them with plain or 00 flour, as I have many times with this recipe, also getting a lovely light croissant. But spelt flour is easily digested so you can eat more of them! And the croissants do actually rise and form that lovely soft honeycomb structure like your usual French croissant! Vive les croissants! 🙂

Spelt croissants

You might have noticed French croissants are very special and don’t seem related to some rather greasy and flat versions in supermarkets. Which is why when I returned from Paris I missed them and was determined to make my own! Unable to wait for autumn, I struggled during high summer with butter merrily oozing out of the pastry as I rolled, sweating away in the high 60-70% humidity of a Barcelona kitchen. The croissants certainly proved rapidly but I don’t really recommend that kind of environment! There were definitely issues with the structure. Like was that a bit of honeycomb structure I could see there? On the bright side I discovered that even when imperfect, homemade croissants are delicious!

Spelt croissant with cured beef

If you have half a day at home and can pop into the kitchen at 40-minute intervals to do very little rolling then do go for it! Think fresh croissants, continental breakfast, lunch, tea, ham and cheese, cured beef, honey or jam! Buttery flaky pastry on the outside but lovely soft honeycombed texture on the inside. Shall we go to the kitchen and make some now? 🙂

Spelt croissant sandwich

We’ll be following a recipe resulting from my kitchen experiments based on and inspired by a variety of sources, including patisserie books, information on the internet and the Cordon Bleu basic course.

Recipe (makes 15 medium-sized croissants plus 2 or three pains) – make over 2 days

DAY ONE – the Détrempe

Evening, 10-15 mins prep time

Ingredients for the Détrempe – try to use the finest and lightest white spelt flour you can find. If your flour is coarse, heavy or even a little old then your croissants won’t have such a light honeycomb structure but you can improve the structure by having half white spelt-half 00 flour. Use good-quality butter that doesn’t have a high water content, like Président unsalted butter.

75g/a third of a cup + 75g/a third of a cup milk at room temperature (total: 150g/two thirds of a cup)

Crumble the yeast into the warm water and whisk to combine (if using dried yeast add directly to the flour).

Melt the butter gently over a very low heat and let cool to lukewarm.

In a big bowl, whisk the sifted flour, sugar and salt together to combine.

Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the tepid melted butter, water and yeast, and 75g of the milk.

Mix with your hand and pastry scraper till it starts coming together and incorporate the remaining milk.

Knead gently on a lightly-floured surface for 10 seconds and make a ball.

With a big knife cut a cross in the ball, wrap loosely with plastic film and place in a metal tray.

Leave to rest in the fridge overnight.DAY TWO – Turns and baking

25 mins work; 2 hours waiting

20 mins assembling croissants; 1.5 to 2 hours proving

25 mins baking for each tray

So you’ll need a stretch of about 6 hours. It’s worth it and the actual work involved is less than 1 hour! 🙂

Ingredients for the turns

300g/1 cup and a third unsalted butter

Beaten eggs to brush over the croissants

Place the butter between two sheets of greaseproof paper. Wait a few minutes for it to soften a little.

Beat then roll out the butter to a square around 17 x 17cm and 5mm high.

You’ll see your pastry ball has risen slightly. Roll it out with a rolling pin to make a square of around 32 x 32cm wide and 5-7mm high, with a little bump in the middle (keep this bump).

Place the butter in the middle of the pastry square. The pastry and butter should have similar consistency and thickness. Wrap the pastry over the butter.

Roll out the pastry square with short roller movements to and fro, in one direction only to make a rectangle twice as long (40 x 20 x 1cm high). Fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third of the rectangle. Sweep any flour away with a pastry brush. Then fold the top third over the middle. Press the sides down with the sides of your hands or the rolling pin.

Turn your rectangle around to the right (some people do it to the left) one-quarter turn so the long sealed side is now facing to the right. Make one indented fingerprint in the top right corner (to mark One Turn). COVER LOOSELY WITH PLASTIC FILM, PLACE IN A METAL TRAY AND LEAVE TO REST IN THE FRIDGE 30 – 45 MINUTES (if it’s hot then a little longer so the butter hardens).

Once rested, place your pastry with the fingerprint in the top right-hand corner as before and repeat the process (no.5 and 6), marking with 2 fingerprints (TWO TURNS DONE). LEAVE TO REST IN THE FRIDGE 30-45 MINUTES.

Cut the rested dough in three parts. You’ll see layers if you look at the sides. Leave two parts covered in the fridge and roll out the other to make a rectangle of 20 x 30 cm.

Make cuts at 10 cm intervals at the bottom of the rectangle and at the top (starting at 5cm from side). Then cut 5 triangles of 10x20cm height with a sharp knife.

Pull to stretch out each triangle a little then roll the large side away from you towards the point (which you wet with a little water). Make sure the point is under the croissant.

Make a pile with the leftover pastry, roll out into rectangles, add a filling and roll around it to make pains (you can put cheese and ham inside, jam, or chocolate).

Place the croissants spaced out on trays, and leave 1 and a half to 2 hours to double in size in a warm place (around 30°C but will also rise in the twenties). If you’re living in a dry environment then loosely cover the croissants with plastic film so they don’t crust up. Also, if it’s cool they may take around 3 hours to prove.

When the croissants are almost ready preheat the oven to 190°C (static, non-convection oven) or 170°C (fan-assisted oven).

The croissants are ready when doubled in size and if you poke with a finger the imprint does not immediately spring back. It should stay in a bit. Then brush the croissants lightly with some beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. I bake one tray at a time.When done, cool on a wire rack.

Eating and looking after your croissants

Store your lovely croissants in airtight tupperware containers when cool, or wrapped tightly in plastic film. If eating within two days keep them out, but after the second day store in the fridge (or freeze up to a month or so). You can reheat croissants straight from frozen in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes or so at 175°C (static oven) or 155°C (fan oven). Still just as yummy! 🙂

How the croissant was born

A long time ago in 1683, Vienna lay under siege by the Ottomans and things didn’t look good for the Austrians. According to legend, one night the Turks almost made their way right into the city by sneaking in underground. But the hard-working bakers who were up all night heard the sound of their tunnelling and so raised the alarm and saved the city from invasion! As a reward the bakers were allowed to invent a pastry to commemorate the occasion and chose to make one in the form of the Islamic crescent, the kipferl.

So how did the kipferl travel to France? Well, you know Marie Antoinette? Yes the queen who lost her head at the guillotine not long after her infamous exclamation ‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!’ (Usually translated as ‘let them eat cake!’). The starving peasants were not impressed. Well, she’d been more popular in earlier days and in 1770 when this 15-year-old Austrian Princess married King Louis XVI of France, the Parisian bakers made some kipferls to honor their new queen. But they adapted them and called them ‘croissants’, the French word for crescent, so we can thank Marie for their arrival in Paris!

As you know, the Parisian croissant later became immensely popular worldwide and has obtained a starring role in the continental breakfast. So hope you’ll seriously consider producing your own and partaking of a few. If your first language isn’t English you could follow tradition and name them with the word in your language for ‘crescent’!

These ones are going to the wonderful Fiesta Friday party, hosted by Angie and this week’s co-hosts Justine @ Eclectic odds n sods and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook – lots of brilliant food for everyone! And they’re also going to the May Perfecting Patisserie blogging eventhosted by Lucy@bakingqueen74, where you’ll find some lovely pâtisserie recipes! Wishing you a wonderful weekend sweet reader, with some great continental or traditional breakfasts! Sausage, bacon and eggs, yum! Sorry, croissant! You know I love you too! Oh dear, I’m speaking to my food again. Best say goodbye now. Happy baking, bon appétit and see you very soon! Yes, speaking to you now lovely reader, not to the croissants! 🙂 x

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Baking on Sundays with my French mum was a lovely part of my childhood. Later I experimented with baking books or internet recipes and did the pâtisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Still trying out new recipes and inventing cakes with influences from all around the world, including some healthy ones! Yes, love cakes!!! :)

Hi Audrey, I’ve never kept the détrempe 2 days in the fridge but I’ve seen that Paul Reinhart does in the croissant recipe in his book Artisan Breads (‘up to 2 days’). I guess your dough should be fine and have developed slowly enough in the cold, with even more taste maybe! (if it went off you’d probably have a very rancid smell). Have fun with the croissants and let me know how it goes! 🙂

Great! Looking forward to your croissant update! 🙂 I haven’t tried any of Paul Reinhart’s recipes but if you look at the reviews of amazon.com you’ll see a lot of people giving feedback (sounds like the pancakes are great, for example). If I were you I’d just choose what you’d most like to eat and make! 🙂

Yay, the croissants came out ok! I’ll probably need to use spelt flour that is more white in color. The bread part of croissants came out not as white as you would expect from croissants. But it was light and yummy! Thank for the recipe and the thorough directions!

Yay!!! So pleased they came out nice – light and yummy sounds great! 🙂 Never mind about whiteness.

You’re very welcome and thanks for letting me know how they turned out – I should add a note in the recipe soon saying it’s okay to keep the starter détrempe in the fridge up to 2 days. So thank you – I learnt something new there. 🙂

Lovely stuff you guys made from the blog!

A fantastic slice of Apple tarte tatin with Chinese 5 spices and Tamarind by Claudette, aka mum! :) It was very nice and using maple syrup is ‘genius’ she reports. The Pink Lady apples used were ‘lovely, juicy and firm’ and cooked on the ring a little over 10 mins. Plus the pastry browned quite quickly so was covered with foil towards the end.

Yummy wholemeal spelt croissants by Dookes. Very well-shaped and nicely risen too! ‘For a first attempt I have to say I’m pretty pleased. They certainly pass the taste test’ says Dookes.

Scrumptious orange & rum fruitcake-cake Anglais by Stéphanie in Tahiti ‘This cake is just delicious :) I brought one in the office today and it just vanished in a few minutes! Every one loved it :)’ she reports. Lovely local rum, vanilla, honey!

A stunning Gâteau Moka by Kate in Cornwall. The piping is wonderful and she was very pleased with it. She also mentions the cake was delish! :)

A delicious seed and nut loaf made by Claudette in London. She reports ‘cannot stop eating it … it is really delicious’ And she used more pumpkin than sunflower seeds and a little chestnut flour too.

Lovely brioche rolls made by Annette in New Zealand! ‘They turned out really well thanks, my boys certainly enjoyed them, all gone now!’ she reports. But be careful – she noticed that if you don’t use invert sugar or honey but just caster sugar, you’ll need to add a little extra water.

Extremely tasty-looking Lamingtons by Annette in New Zealand. Lovely and moist even without cream inside, she reports. So tempting piled up on that pretty plate. Yum!

A fabulous Raspberry charlotte by Kate! Loads of raspberries and great sponge finger casing! The assembly part was actually really easy! and ‘it tasted amazing’ she says, adding it ‘will definitely become a regular pudding in our household!’

A beautiful orange and rum fruitcake-cake Anglais fruitcake made by Dookes! Looks moist and delicious! Dookes’ comments: ‘seriously good!’ and ‘fantastico’!! You can find the guest post recipe at http://wp.me/p2sQo3-US And Dookes’ cake report is at https://hogriderdookes.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/lilis-biker-cake-made-and-tasted/ on his Hogrider Dookes blog.

What I made at the Cordon Bleu in Paris

Baba au rhum – rum baba

Diamants

Savoury petits fours with inverted puff pastry

Gateau Basque

Croquembouche

Le Jamaique – passion fruit and coconut mousse cake

Cake and Madeleines

Gateau Saint-Honoré

Passion fruit and raspberry tart

Milk chocolates – muscadines and pralinés

Viennoiserie – croissants, brioches, pains au chocolat

Wild strawberry treasure cake

Plating a rapsberry and anis macaron with raspberry coulis and anis cream